Book Review - Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts

I have recently finished reading the Inn Boonsboro trilogy by Nora Roberts. It was a fun read for the kids' week home from school during Thanksgiving. It is easy to put down, pick back up again and remember who everyone is, what they are doing and why.

The trilogy consists of "The Next Always", "The Last Boyfriend" and "The Perfect Hope", and revolves around the small town of Boonsboro, MD. The series was enjoyable, well-written lightweight romance at its' finest. Nora Roberts writes remodeling very well, like HGTV for bookworms. She gives good interior design. As a homeowner, I found myself more seduced by flooring and fixture descriptions than by the romantic lead, which suggests more about my love of Home Depot than Ms. Roberts' characters and plot. As the title of the trilogy suggests, the setting in Inn Boonsboro, which happens to be real place, owned by Nora Roberts herself. If it is anything like the book, the suites must have amazing bathtubs.

Five Reasons to Read the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy:

1. Modern love,  AARP-style.  The mother of the three main male lead characters is sassy, sexy and has a friend with benefits. You go, Grandma!

2. Puppy love. The dogs are endearing and not just props. I wish my dogs behaved this well. Sigh.

3. A beauty queen with brains. I was prepared to fully dislike the character Hope, on the basis of her history of pageants. Instead, I paused and reflected on the intelligence of a woman who could use her beauty as a tool but not her only tool. Well played, Nora Roberts. I won't be watching Miss America but I maybe won't judge them so harshly in my mind.

4. Extra touches of reality bonus points. One character is a war widow. A mother abandoned one character as a child (mommy issues instead of daddy issues- refreshing). Someone has a job and can't join the Fourth of July festivities because they are working. Construction workers swear (a lot- don't give these books to people who prefer to avoid profanity), get covered in dirt and have coarse sensibilities. Relationships last for months before proposals. These little touches are great because it helps make up for the ubiquitous amazingly romantic and perfect adult interludes.

5.  Come for the romance, stay for the pizza. One of the characters runs a pizzeria. We ordered pizza twice over Thanksgiving Break. The descriptions made my mouth water. Yum!



This is Nora Roberts' second trilogy set near Antietam, with the ghosts of civil war soldiers as fairly significant characters. The other series involved the McKade brothers, who were remodeling an inn in Antietam. That series was also good, although it was from earlier days, when Ms. Roberts' books were much shorter.



Kinda makes me want to take the kids on a Civil War-themed road trip.